The wife of a disgraced Alberta Mountie who was transferred to British Columbia after admitting to sexual misconduct on the job has come forward to defend her husband’s name.
Janet Ray sent a letter to the media on Tuesday blaming Sgt. Donald Ray’s actions on the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered following two policing tours in Sierra Leone in 2003.
“Within six months of Don coming home, I realized he still wasn’t ‘out of Africa,’” Ray wrote. “Our family life and marriage was nothing like before.”
News of the sergeant’s conduct arose in May, when he was reprimanded by an internal RCMP disciplinary board for having sex with subordinates, exposing himself to a coworker and having boozy after-hours parties at the Edmonton detachment.
In total, the officer admitted to seven counts of disgraceful conduct on the job between 2006 and 2009.
Ray said her husband had been drinking to cope with the troubling things he’d experienced both in Sierra Leone and during the course of his regular duties as an RCMP officer.
Meanwhile, she and her four children had become alienated from him, effectively living separate lives until the allegations about his conduct arose.
“In my anger and in disbelief I begged him to answer the question, ‘Who are you?’” Ray wrote. “Despite our difficulties, I was shocked as the behaviour was so totally out of character, so totally against his values and moral fibre.”
The officer was investigated for nearly three years before the report was released, according to Ray, who said her husband quit drinking, sought therapy and recommitted to his family during the probe.
The sergeant was eventually demoted one rank and fined 10 days’ pay, but was allowed to remain on the force in light of his years of service.
B.C. Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said the decision to allow Ray to work in the province wasn’t an easy one, but he assured thet public that Mounties would be keeping close watch on the officer.
“Accepting the transfer into this division was done with the confidence that we could provide the type of oversight and supervision that would ensure that the sanctions that have been imposed on him are having the desired effect,” Callens said in May.
“Let me tell you, if they are not having the desired effect, he will face the consequences very quickly.”
Callens said if Ray reoffends, he will be removed from duty, suspended without pay and benefits and face dismissal from the force.
Among Ray’s admitted offences are stocking his office with rum and beer, offering drinks to subordinates, drinking on the job and having sex with three coworkers, including a civilian subordinate.
With files from The Canadian Press
